1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame member used for forming a window opening in a structural wall such as a poured concrete wall and serves as a frame member for a window.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most homes in northern climates have basements that are formed from poured concrete. In constructing such basements, forms of various types are generally installed to define sidewalls and to guide concrete around various objects such as windows and door frames so that the concrete is formed in a desired building structure. It is a common practice in the industry to use wooden or steel frames for the windows, which frames are partially embedded in the concrete and are held thereby. Although such construction process provides a relatively simplistic method for providing a window frame in a concrete wall, the process suffers from serious deficiencies.
Firstly, embedded window frames in concrete walls are subject to deterioration during the passage of time or the frame may become dislodged from the concrete wall. In either event, the resulting condition is unsatisfactory and requires replacement of the frame, a task that is not easily completed.
The present invention is specifically adapted to overcome the deficiencies of prior art window frames and is formed from a composition and is of a specific design to significantly avoid the deleterious affects of deterioration and/or breakage from the concrete wall.
The present invention provides an elongated structural member comprising a polymer and wood fibre composition suitable for use and manufacture of a window frame to be embedded in a poured concrete wall to define an opening therein and includes a top surface defining one side of the opening and a bottom surface that includes concrete engaging means for securely fastening the member to the concrete wall once drying is completed.
The concrete engaging means includes at least two longitudinally extending tenons located on opposite sides of said bottom surface and are formed with an outer end and an inner end that is arcuately undercut to permit an even flow of concrete about the tenons as the concrete wall is poured. Additionally, the bottom surface may also include at least one medially located tenon formed with outer end and an inner end that is arcuately undercut to permit an even flow of concrete about said medial tenon as the concrete wall is formed.
In a preferred embodiment, the bottom surface includes a pair of medially located tenons, each formed with an outer end and an inner end that is arcuately undercut to permit an even flow of concrete thereabout. In such embodiment, each of said side tenons is associated with one of said medial tenons whereby said tenons each have a boss that extends towards the boss on the other tenon to form a concrete engaging tenon combination to form a reliable and efficient securement of the structural member in the concrete wall.
The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by illustration and not of limitation a specific form in which the invention may be embodied. Such embodiment does not represent the full scope of the invention, but rather the invention may employed in a variety of other embodiments and reference is made to the claims herein for interpreting the breadth of the invention.